Apparatus foe packing- fish



' 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Medal.)

D. 0. MARSHALL 8; O. P. YORK.

APPARATUS FOR PACKING FISH.

Patented Aug. 25, 1885,

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I JV VEJV TOR WITNESSES n n M d (w 2 W .dttorneys (NO Modei.) 2Sheets-Sheet 2.

D. O. MARSHALL & G. P. YORK.

APPARATUS FOR PACKING FISH.

Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL O. MARSHALL AND CHARLES F. YORK, OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.

APPARATUS FOR PACKING FISH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,102., dated August25, 1885.

Application filed June 30, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that we, DANIEL 0. MARSHALL and CHARLES F. YORK, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Gloucester, in the county of Essex andState of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Apparatus forPacking Fish, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, in which-- Figure 1 represents a perspectiveview of an apparatus embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal sectional view of the same on the line at 00 of Fig. 3.Fig. 3 is a plan view of our improved sectional block for holding theboxes while being packed. Fig. 4 is a perspective of one of our boxespacked and having the top and bottom covers in place.

Our invention relates to an apparatus for packing fish, preferablycodfish; and the same consists, essentially, in a sectional block havingtwo or more openings for the boxes, in means whereby the boxes, afterbeing packed, may be removed without displacing the fish, and in afollower adapted to enter the boxes in the sectional block and securelycompress the ditt'erent pieces or layers of fish, all of which we willhereinafter fully describe and claim.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, wewill now proceed to describe the construction of our apparatus and themanner in which it is used.

In the said drawings, A A represent the mold or sectional block, thesections of which are hinged together at one end, and provided at theopposite ends with means whereby the sections are securely looked, asshown in Fig. 1. The stationary section A has a bottom piece, B, whichextends under the whole block when the same is being packed, and uponthis bottom the boxes rest during the compression of the fish. Thesection A is the movable section, and swings outward to release theboxes and permit of their being readily removed from the block andreceive their top and bottom covers. Each of the sections hassemicircular or other desired form of openings 0, and each opening ofthe series is provided with shoulders at a, against which the edge ofthe box K is placed and made to bear. The stationary section A hassecured thereto a casting, D with a bifurcated end, in which isjournaled a swinging bolt, F, and the movable section A has also a plateor casting, E, provided with a notch, c, in which lies the bolt F, whilea thumb-nut, G, engages the threaded portion of the bolt, and, bearingagainst the plate E, holds the sections A A tightly together during thepacking process, and allows the bolt to be disengaged and swung out ofthe way of the movable section when it is desired to remove the packedboxes. The follower H is located immediately over the sectional block,and is provided with blocks or plungers 1, corresponding in size andnumber to the openings in said sectional block. This follower may beoperated by screw, hydraulic, or other power to tightly compress thelayers of fish within the boxes.

In the drawings we haveillustrated the block as having two circularopenings for cylindrical-shaped boxes; but we do not wish to confineourselves to this construction, as boxes of different shapes may beused, and the sectional mold or block may be made to receive any desirednumber of boxes, the plungers on the follower always corresponding tothe shape of the box in which the fish is pressed.

In the practical operation of our apparatus the fish are first skinnedand then cut with a die into circular, square, or other shaped pieces.The empty boxes K are placed in the mold or block A A without a topcover, and with or without a bottom cover, the seam or edge of the bodyof the box bearing against the shoulders to. When this is done, thesections of the block are closed by the bolt F and thumb-nut G, and thelayers of fish may then. be inserted and compressed by the follower. Bythis means we are enabled to pack and press the fish in the originalpackage, and without the necessity of having the same pressed in aseparate mold and then packed in boxes, and by having the edges of theboxes bearing against the shoulders before described all danger of theboxes bursting is obviated, as the pressure is evenly distributed aroundits entire surface. 7

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for packing fish, the

combination of a sectional block having a movable section with openbottom, and a stationary section having a bottom piece which extendsunder both sections when closed, and upon which the boxes rest, afollower having plungcrs corresponding nearly in size to the diameter ofthe boxes, and a locking-bolt for securing the sections of the blocktogether, substantially as herein described.

2. An apparatus for compressing fish, comprising a sectional blockprovided with a movable and a stationary section, the latter having abottom piece, B, extending under both sections when closed, openingsformed in the sections, and shoulders formed in the sections may belocked or unlocked, substan- 2o tiall y as and for the purpose hereindescribed.

DANIEL O. MARSHALL. CHARLES F. YORK.

Witnesses for Marshall J AMES DAVIS,

T. WALTER FOWLER. Witnesses for York:

W. H. BRISTOL,

H. B. APPLEWI-IAITE.

